


Spinel's and Anon's book exchange

by Chromite



Series: Tales of Spinel and Anon [5]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Building Friendship, Conversation, Driving, Spinel's house, furnature, trading books
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-21
Updated: 2019-09-21
Packaged: 2020-10-25 12:36:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20724311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chromite/pseuds/Chromite
Summary: Spinel and Anon meet up to trade books, but a sudden flash of inspiration from a conversation gives Spinel an idea of something she could show Anon.





	Spinel's and Anon's book exchange

>Spinel and Anon spent the next three days texting each other instead of calling, Anon busy with a few things in his life, while Spinel decided to put in a few extra performances to try and earn some extra cash to buy herself some video games. She had enjoyed her time playing with Anon, but felt like she was slowing him down when they played together. While he said he didn't mind her being inexperienced at video games, she still wanted to practice on her own.   
>In Spinel's time not performing impromptu shows for money, she compiled a list of the books she owned, book by book, in alphabetical order. She didn't have much of a collection of books yet, but she still hoped there were enough titles she had that Anon didn't. She wanted their little book lease to each other to be as fair as possible.  
>The day of their arranged meeting arrived, Spinel and Anon deciding to once more meet up at the billboard outside of Beach City. Spinel had beaten Anon there this time, but only by a minute. Both of them smiled as Anon stepped out of his car.  
>"Hey, it's nice to see you again! Did you have fun performing in Bayberg before you went home?"  
>"I sure did! It was fun seeing all the new faces around me smile and laugh, and they were really good tippers! I'll have to go back there again sometime."  
>"I bet your shows are amazing. I should try and catch one sometime."  
>A light pink blush formed on Spinel's face. "I, I could put on a little show for you today, if you'd like?"  
>"I.....I would like that, but it wouldn't be fair, I need to do something for you in exchange to make it fair."  
>"Don't be silly, I owe ya one already! You introduced video games to me, and told me about that movie....the least I could do is show you an act! One little short act isn't a big deal."  
>Anon hesitates for a moment before he nods his head. "Okay....if you insist. Where, do you need to go get something, or do we need to go somewhere else?"  
>Spinel smiles as an idea comes to her. "I don't need anything, but I know where we can go for an amazing show! We need to get to my house though."  
>A smile crosses Anon's face. "I get a performance and I get to see your home? You had this planned out, didn't you?"  
>Spinel shook her head. "No, well I did have going to my house planned, so we could exchange books today, but the rest is something I just decided on!"   
>"Right, the books, I have a few boxes loaded up in my car. Did you want to go through the books before or after your act?"  
>"After, it won't take long to do one of my routines. Let's bounce to it Anon, I'll tell you how to get to my home!" Spinel's shoes squeak as she bounces excitedly on the ground, and starts moving towards Anon's car. Anon can't help giggling at Spinel's antics, her energy does a great job of lifting his spirits higher than they were.   
>Spinel and Anon load up in Anon's car, and Anon starts it up. "So how do we get to your house from here?"  
>"Oh, that's easy! You just follow the road out of Beach City, take the first right turn, then take the next first right turn after that! I live close enough to town to get there quickly, but far enough away to......keep my privacy when I want it."  
>Anon nods in understanding as he drove the green car down the road. "That's fair, sometimes I wish I lived away from other houses too. Must be nice to have a countryside home. But, isn't it a hassle to get into town when you need to? You mentioned traveling around a lot, the commute time must be horrible."  
>Spinel giggled lightly at Anon's words. "For a human it would be, but.......you'll see shortly that large distances are no problem for me!"  
>Anon wants to inquire further, but decided against it. If Spinel wants something to be a surprise, who is he to ruin her fun?   
>After taking two right turns, Anon finds himself driving into a dense grove of trees. He takes a brief glance over at Spinel as he slows his car down a bit. "So, what does your house look like?"  
>Spinel giggles again. "It's the only house you'll find on this road, don't worry! It's hard to miss too, it's bright and pink, like me! We don't have far to go now."  
>Anon nods his head and picks up the speed of his car again. Sure enough, it's only a few extra minutes of driving before Anon spots the house through the trees. It's a very simple design for the most part, one floor, a few windows fixated around the house, a tall chimney. The only feature that stands out to Anon is a large glass dome fixated on the top of the house, atop a short tower. The house itself sits in the middle of a large clearing, the sun touching the roof and the dome with its light.   
>Anon can't help himself, his curiosity is too much for him to bear. "Hey, what's with that small tower and the dome? You run a greenhouse out here or something?"   
>Spinel giggles a little before she puts on a serious face. "I knew you'd be curious about it. You'll see it soon, I promise! That's where we're heading in my home first. Well, first is the living room, but the tower is connected to that!"  
>Anon and Spinel stepped out of Anon's car. Spinel laughed gleefully as she bounced towards her door, reaching for her gem and pulling out her keys to unlock her door. Anon casually walked from his car to the front door, taking in the scene around him. The trees were nice and tall, towering over him and the house, their tops full of bright green leaves. There were no noises of vehicles out here, only the sound of nature, the chirping of the birds, the rustling of the leaves in the wind. Anon found himself enjoying the serenity of it all, before he was snapped out of his thoughts by Spinel. "C'mon, I've got the door open!"  
>"C-coming, hold up!" Anon picked up his pace and quickly closed the distance between himself and Spinel, his excitement for what was inside her home building with every step he took.  
>Anon and Spinel stepped into Spinel's home, Spinel grinning from ear to ear. "Tadaaa! Welcome to my home!" Within the living room, a moderately sized television set rested on top of a bright pink table. Resting a short distance away was a lovely yellow couch, turned to face the television directly. The walls of the living room were painted a bright white, but oddly bare. Sitting a short distance away from the television, the opening of the red brick fireplace sat, wood piled up close to it and a few logs placed gently within.  
>Anon briefly wondered if she had taken pictures down before he got here before his attention turned towards the rest of the room, towards the bring blue kitchen visible through an opening. To the right of the opening leading to the kitchen, the wall curved outward into a semi-circle, a door fixated at the middle of it. To the right of the door, Anon could see the start of a hallway. "That hall must lead to the bedrooms, and that door must be.....the tower." Anon thought to himself.  
>Anon was snapped out of his thoughts when Spinel spoke again. "So, whadya think? Pretty cool right?! You haven't seen the best part yet!" Spinel was smiling as she moved towards the door on the curved wall section, and opened it up. Shortly past the door, Anon could see the starts of a spiraling staircase leading up.  
>"Your home is pretty cool, but what makes the tower part the best part? Do you like the lighting it provides, or is it something else?"  
>"You'll see in a few steps! I don't want to spoil the surprise yet! Please, just come up the stairs with me, I'll tell you when we get up there."  
>Anon thought for a moment before he nodded his head and let out a sigh. "Oh alright, I guess I can wait a few more steps."  
>"Yay! Oh, you're going to love it, I know you will!" Spinel spoke excitedly as she bounced up the stairs, her feet squeaking with each step. Anon followed her slower, but still at a brisk pace. He was pretty eager to see what waited for him at the top of the stairs.  
>Anon let out a light gasp as he reached the top of the stairs and looked around. The dome created a perfect hemisphere, light filtering through the top of the dome and filling the room with natural lighting. Along the solid portions of the walls, Anon saw six tall bookshelves, painted a lovely green color and each one filled with books. Along the wall, with three bookshelves to each side, sat a small couch, covered in pink fabric with lace around the edges. But the most surprising thing to Anon was what rested in the middle of the room. It looked like it was a large round gemstone, pale white and glimmering brightly in the sunlight. "Wow......what is that?" Anon spoke in awe as he pointed to the round gem-like thing.  
>Spinel let out another giggle before she responded. "That's a warp pad, and it's what we needed to come up here for!"  
>"Warp......pad? What do you mean?"  
>"What do you think I mean? It's a pad used by gems to warp places! I use it all the time to travel between towns and countries fast."  
>Anon looked at Spinel in disbelief. "You mean to tell me......you can go anywhere you want on Earth, just like that?"  
>"Not just Earth! I can travel between planets too, anywhere I want to go, I can be there in an instant if there's a pad to warp to!"  
>"That's......how does that work? Can, can it be used by humans?" Anon's mind was reeling at the implications of the warp pad. Instant travel between locations, and between worlds was something he always fantasized about, a topic that was written into many science fiction books he had read. Having it lie right before him filled him with excitement and nervousness.  
>Spinel's face fell a little before she replied. "Oh......humans can travel through them, but they can't activate them alone. But, maybe there's a way to do so! I'll ask the Diamonds about it when I see them tomorrow! If anyone could make something for the warps, they could!"  
>Excitement and uncertainty gnawed at Anon. "So.....why did we come here if I can't....use it?"  
>"That's an easy fix! You can't activate it yourself, but I can take you with me when I use it! You gotta hold on tight and stay close though. What do you say, you wanna go for a little trip?"  
>Anon hesitated for a moment before his adventurous spirit won out. "Of, of course I do!" Anon started moving towards the pad. "Just....do your thing and we can go wherever you wanted to take me!"  
>Anon stepped onto the warp pad, Spinell squeaking and giggling as she stepped onto the pad behind him, and coiled her stretchy arms around his body. "I'll hold you tight, away we go!"  
>Even within Spinel's embrace, Anon could still feel the sensation of his body going weightless as the warp pad flared to life, a column of light touching down around them before it carried them off into warp space. He found his body feeling oddly weightless, like the sensation he used to feel after he jumped from the swings as a child, that brief floating feeling right before gravity started pulling him down to the ground, except the gravity feeling wasn't kicking in. He couldn't help but smile as he heard Spinel start laughing as they traveled through the stream. "She seems to enjoy this....it is pretty cool." he thought to himself as they kept traveling.  
>A few minutes were all it took for them to arrive at their destination. Anon let out another gasp of surprise as he took in the new scene. As far as the eye could see, there were plants growing around them. Attached to the plants were giant strawberries, the smallest one as large as a man's head, with the largest one easily towering over him at four times his height. "What.....what is this place?"  
>"Most of the gems on Earth call it the giant strawberry field now. Supposedly there was some huge fight here, but I don't know what went on if one did happen. I just think these strawberries are neat, I like using them to cook desserts!"  
>"This is all so.....amazing. Thank you for showing me this, Spinel."  
>"You're welcome Anon, but that's not all! I promised you a little performance after all! Sit on the warp pad, get comfortable, and I'll show you what I can really do!"  
>Anon smiled as he sat down upon the warp pad, his eyes focused on Spinel. Spinel leapt up onto the nearest strawberry that would support her, then pulled out a few colorful orbs, a wide smile on her face.  
>Spinel kept smiling as she juggled them, simply in front of her at first, then growing more elaborate as she kept going, stretching her limbs into loops to juggle the orbs through, adding a new ball to the mix after every three loops, even spinning and dancing as she juggled, never once letting an orb hit the strawberry below her or the ground below it. Anon watched her movements in wonder, his smile growing wider as she kept going.  
>By the end of her juggling performance, Spinel's arms and legs formed five loops each, her torso formed three more, and her tongue formed one last loop. She had eleven orbs flowing through each loop perfectly in a circle, ending the act by sending the orbs high in the sky, lining all the loops on her body up in a strait line, and letting the orbs fall through them to land in her left hand, inflated to a larger size to hold them all and resting gently on the strawberry below her. She held up the orbs in her hand with a smile, showing them to Anon.   
>Anon clapped as she finished. "Wonderful! Absolutely amazing!"  
>A light blush formed on Spinel's face as she stashed the orbs in her gem and hopped off of the strawberry, landing with a squeak. "Th-thanks, I'm happy you enjoyed it."  
>"No, thank you Spinel! Thanks for bringing me to this amazing place, and showing me a wonderful juggling act. It was truly a marvelous time."  
>With the little act done, the pair stepped back onto the warp pad, Spinel promising Anon she'd take him somewhere else another time. The pair went on to spend the rest of the evening comparing their lists of books, Spinel helping Anon unload the books he brought with him in his car so they could trade easier, and so they could get the books into her home faster. In the end, they had about the same amount of books they wanted to borrow from each other, making the exchange with a smile, and promising to tell each other what they thought of the books they were borrowing when they were finished reading them.   
>The little gathering ended with Anon's phone going off, signaling the one hour warning for him to get to work. Spinel hugged Anon good bye and helped him load the books back into his car before watching him drive off. She couldn't wait to speak to him again. She looked forward to their next meeting.


End file.
